Resilient shoe taps and heels



May 24, 1960 Filed Jan. 20, 1959 N. HACK ET AL RESILIENT SHOE TAPS AND HEELS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS NATHAN HACK, LEONARD HACK &

MORTON HACK.

ATTORFEY y 1960 N. HACK ET AL 2,937,462

RESILIENT SHOE TAPS AND HEELS Filed Jan. 20, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mmvrozzs NATHAN HACK, LEONARD HACK a BY MORTON HACK.

ATTORNEY RESILIENT SHOE TAPS AND HEELS Nathan Hack, Santa Monica, Calif., and Leonard Hack and Morton Hack, Detroit, Mich., assignors to Ripple Sole Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Jan. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 787,887

Claims. (Cl. 36-76) This invention relates to resilient shoe soles and heels and constitutes an improvement in such articles of manufacture.

Shoes and footwear often are provided with a front sole portion in the form of a partial sole, which will be identified herein by the term tap, and a heel portion separate and distinct from the tap, the area intermediate the tap and heel being the shank.

In the instant invention, the taps and heels are made of resilient materials such as rubber, flexible plastics, or o'ther suitable compositions. The tap comprises generally a platform portion, secured to the forepart of the shoe by an adhesive or other suitable fastening means, from which depends a series of parallel transverse ribs having their front and rear faces rearwardly slanted. The tap may be provided with ribs from the front to its rear end, or with a front toe plateau or a rear plateau, or both. The heel similarly comprises a platform portion with a depending parallel series of transverse ribs of the same construction as the tap, terminating optionally at its rear end in a transverse rib or in a heel plateau to provide additional stability in walking, running and standing.

Of especial value are taps which embody certain supportive features and advantages. Because of the existence of plantar excrescences (callouses or corns) or bony deformations, it is very often desirable to provide a bar or support across the ball of the foot immediately behind the metatarsal heads. Such metatarsal bar provides leverage for the forward position, or propulsion phase, of the gait, carrying the weight of the body over and thus not touching the painful areas on the sole of the foot.

2,937,462 Patented May 24, 1960 the invention and features of construction submitted below employ terms of description and not of limitation.

Reference is now made to the drawings annexed hereto,

forming an integral part of this specification, and in which Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the forward part of the shoe showing a tap embodying a metatarsal bar.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the tap shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a metatarsal bar tap having a front toe pad.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the tap shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a tap having the front toe pad of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a modified metatarsal bar tap.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. lshowing a tap having a modified rearward rib and edge.

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of an S-breasted heel. Fig. 9 is a botto'm plan view of the heel shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a metatarsal bar tap having curved rib members.

Fig. 11 is a bottom plan view of the tap shown in Fig. 10.

The tap and heel disclosed herein, including all of their modifications, are made from resilient material such as rubber, flexible plastics, or other similar compositions;

' The means for securing the tap and heel of this invention This solution has been accomplished by the use of metatarsal bars integrally formed in the tap. The bars may be of various sizes, shapes and configurations. Some are straight transverse, some slightly arced or curved, and some are modified to suit the particular feet for which they are designed. In the instant construction, the metatarsal bars disclosed, being integrally formed in the tap, combine the advantages of the flexing ribbed sole with the therapeutic values of the bar.

Similarly, the so-called Thomas or S-breasted heel of this invention, embodying the advantages of delimiting the downward thrust at the highpoint of the arch and translating the weight to the lateral aspect provides an improved heel capable of resolving support problems in the shank or arch area of the shoe.

The merits and advantages of a separate tap and heel construction are many. Separate taps and heels provide simplicity and economy in manufacture. They may be used and secured to shoes or boots with or without wedges. There is economy in replacement costs, i.e. either the tap or the heel may be replaced independently of the other. In merchandising, separate taps and heels permit a stylized construction and a style factor as where fiddle shanks are employed in shoes. Weight is reduced.

These are some of the more obvious advantages of the inventiveconstruction hercdisclosed. The disclosure of to the shoe base or upper includes adhering the same by a suitable adhesive, stitching, molding or vulcanizing the tap and heel to the shoe base. The taps and heels may be produced by the cast molding process, by injection molding, by extrusion and die cutting, or by other suitable methods.

As shown particularly in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 of the drawings, the resilient tap 10 comprises an upper platform portion or body 12 from which depend a series of integrally formed parallel transverse rib members 14 having rearwardly and downwardly slanting front faces 16 and rear faces 18. The lower rounded edges 20 of the ribs provide a conjunction of the front and rear faces, and the rear and front faces of adjacent rib members are conjoined by a blending radius 22 adjacent the platform 12,

whereby added flexibility is provided for the ribs.

Each of the taps 10 in Figs. 1 and 3 are also provided with a transverse metatarsal support bar 24. 'In Fig. 6 is illustrated a transverse metatarsal bar 26 extendinginto the shank area of the shoe to provide additional arch sup port behind the metatarsal heads.

The front tip end of the tap 10, in Fig. l, is provided with a trimming plateau 28 which serves as a toe base for the forward step in Walking or running. It has an additional function in providing an element secured to the shoe which is forward of the first rib 14, so that separation or pulling away of the tap from the shoe base at the end is avoided. This portion 28 of the tap is made somewhat oversize when fabricated to allow for trimming to suit the size and configuration of the particular'shoe upon which the tap 10 is secured.

The front toe pressure pad 30, shown in Figs. 3 and 5,

blended securement to the shank, as in half-sole construce 7 tion.

A further modification of a tap with a metatarsal bar is that illustrated in Figs. .10 and 11, wherein the tap embodies a series of transversely curved rib 'membeis'fid depending from a platform 36. A straight metatarsal bat 38 is provided at the rear terminal portion of the tap,

sion of the heel into the enact the shank where arch support is of especial aid to many persons. This feature is best illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 in which is shown a heel 50 comprising a platform portion or body 52 from which depend a series of parallel transverse rib members 54, a rear heel platform 56 and an 8 curve 58 at the forward end of the heel. This type of heel is generally known as a Thomas heel, named after the English orthopaedic surgeon who first designed a heel having a forward support under the talo navicular articulation, the high point of the arch, curving to a point under the lateral malleolus.

The S-breasted heel heredisclosed provides an additional function and effect beyond that attainable with a regular Thomas heel and beyond that provided by a full ribbed sole of the constructions disclosed in Hack Patents 2,410,761 and 2,833,057. The forward prolongation of the heel 50 is under the high point of the arch. At this point the resilient rib members 54 delimit the downward thrust-actually they press upward on each step as the weight is brought down-and massage the arch of the foot. By the S-breasted configuration of the heel 50, the weight can now be shifted to the outer border of the foot. This function cannot be accomplished with the full ribbed sole or a straight regular ribbed heel, because one of the prime assists of the full ribbed sole disclosed in the above patents is to provide traction evenly across the foot from heel to toe.

The curved heel rib members 54 are integrally formed with the heel platform portion 52, and have rearwardly and downwardly slanting front faces 60 and rear faces 62, preferably conjoined at their lower extremities by a rounded blendededge 64. The rear faces 62 and front faces 60 of adjacent rib members are preferably conjoined by a smooth blending radius 66 at the platform portion 52.

The flexibility of the above described resilient taps and heels is a direct result of the rib construction in which rearwardly and downwardly slanted faces conjoined at their lower edges produce ribs that yield downwardly and forwardly, whereby a forward movement is imparted to the foot in walking or running. A sensation of gliding motion is achieved from the flexing of the ribs when the foot, under load, bears downwardly upon a base plane. It will be noted from the several views in the drawings and from the description given above that the ribs of both taps and heels are substantial in height so that a definite and positive flexing occurs in the ribs from which a forward o'r gliding motion and sensation is imparted to the foot.

It will be readily understood that the taps and heels heredescribed are specially suited for use on shoes having a stylized shank or construction, also known as a fiddleshank," a term taken from its similarity in form to that of a fiddle or violin.

The economies of the instant construction involve savings in material, in the production of the taps and heels from molds or extrusion dies that are substantially smaller and less expensive to produce and to maintain, in replacement of either the tap or heel independently of the other on shoes, and in the use of the tap and heel without a wedge. In addition, the manufacture of shoes with the separate tap and heel of this .inventionprovides the benefits of simplicity and a very close relationship to current shoe manufacturing methods and processes. This is particularly true because the tap and heel here disclosed are adaptable to conventional shoe construction and manufacturing equipment.

Having described the invention in its simplest terms, it is to be understood that the features of construction may be changed and varied in greater or lesser degree without departing from the essence of the invention defined in the appended claims.

We claim: 7

1. In a ground plane contacting element for a shoe,

, a tap made of resilient material having a body secured to said shoe at the forepart thereof and a series of transversely extending, .parallel, downwardly and rearwardly inclined rib members projecting from said body and spaced longitudinally along said tap, said rib members having front and rear forwardly inclined faces diverging upwardly from their lower edges and forming a rounded juncture with the body of said tap, whereby when said rib members are engaged upon a supporting surface, said rib members will flex forwardly under weight and produce a forward movement of said shoe base relative to said surface, said tap being further provided with a metatarsal pivoting bar at the rearward end of said tap, said bar being arranged transversely of said tap, having the thickness of said tap, and being positioned adjacent the shank of said shoe base.

2. The structure defined in claim 1, and in which said rib members are curved transversely of said tap.

3. In a ground plane contacting element for a shoe, a tap made of resilient material having a body secured to said shoe at the forepart thereof and a series of transversely extending, parallel, downwardly and rearwardly inclined rib members projecting from said body and spaced longitudinally along said tap, said rib members having front and rear forwardly inclined faces diverging upwardly from their lower edges and forming a rounded juncture with the body of said tap, whereby when said rib members are engaged upon a supporting surface, said rib members will flex forwardly under weight and produce a forward movement of said shoe base relative to said surface, said tap being further provided with a metatarsal pivoting bar at the rearward end of said tap, said bar being arranged transversely of said tap, having the thickness of said tap, and extending rearwardly substantially into the shank area of said shoe base and there secured to said shoe base.

4. In a ground plane contacting element for a shoe, a tap made of resilient material having a body secured to said shoe at the forepart thereof and a series of transversely extending, parallel, downwardly and rearwardly inclined rib members projecting from said body and spaced longitudinally along said tap, said rib members having front and rear forwardly inclined faces diverging upwardly from their lower edges and forming a rounded juncture with the body of said tap, whereby when said rib members are engaged upon a supporting surface, said rib members will flex forwardly under weight and produce a forward movement of said shoe base relative to said surface, said tap being further provided with a front toe plateau forward of the first of said rib members, and a metatarsal pivoting bar at the rearward end of said tap, said toe plateau and said metatarsal bar having the thickness of said tap, said bar being arranged transversely of said tap adjacent the shank of said shoe base, said toe plateau providing a pressure pad at the toe of said shoe.

5. In a ground plane contacting element for a shoe, a tap made of resilient material having a body secured to said shoe at the forepart thereof and a series of transversely extending, parallel, downwardly and rearwardly inclined rib members projecting from said body and spaced longitudinally along said tap, said :rib members having front and rear forwardly inclined faces .diverging upwardly from their lower edges and forming a rounded juncture with the body of said tap, whereby when said rib members are engaged upon a supporting surface, said rib members will flex forwardly under weight and produce a forward movement of said shoe base rela- 5 tive to said surface, the rearmost of said rib members, on said tap being positioned adjacent the shank area of said shoe base, and an extension of said body rearwardly of said rearmost rib member terminating in a feathered edge secured to said shoe base in the shank area thereof. 10

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 485,459 Crocker Nov. 1, 1892, 15

6 Ehrenfn'ed June 9, 1931 Warner July 14, 1936 Tousley Mar. 25, 1941 Jakosky July 18, 1944 Husted Sept. 24, 1946 Molas et a1. Nov. 28, 1950 Hofienberg Oct. 9, 1951 Whitman Sept. 1, 1953 Hack June 14, 1955 Heisterkamp May 29, 1956 Hack May 6, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS France June 9, 1954 France Sept. 24, 1956 

